–by Jeff Whitworth — Field Crops, Entomology
The 1st potato leafhoppers were detected in northcentral Kansas on 10 June, but probably started immigrating in a few days prior to that. They will continue this immigration for about another month. As of 14 June, however, only adults were active (see fig 1) but they are depositing eggs which hatch into very tiny nymphs in approximately 4-7 days. Much alfalfa, however, has just been swathed, or soon will be, and this will help mitigate potato leafhopper damage by removing eggs/nymphs before they cause any damage (see fig 2-often called “hopper burn”). However, adults will continue to migrate into these fields- so monitoring should continue as the new growth emerges.
Figure 1. Adult potato leafhoppers
Figure 2. Hopper burn